Tuesday, March 16, 2010

C

Caluyanon
(Also splled Caluyanun) or is a Visayan language spoken in the Caluya Islands, Antique in the Philippines.

Camunic
Is an extinct language once spoken by the Camunni tribe that dwelt in the Val Camonica, Brescia, Italy. The language is of unknown classification, though the Etruscan and Rhaetic languages are thought to be related to it. Camunic writing is found mainly on rocks in a variety of the Old Italic alphabet. About 70 short inscriptions, all dating from the first millennium BCE, are known. Most were found within the Val Camonica. The tongue likely died out some time in the 1st century BCE due to Latin expansion.

Cantonese
Is one of the major dialect groups or languages of the Chinese language or language family. It is mainly spoken in parts of southern Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, by Chinese minorities in Southeast Asia and by many overseas Chinese of Guangdong and Hong Kong origin worldwide. The name is derived from Canton, a former romanized Western name for Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province.

Caribean Languages
are an indigenous language family of South America. Carib languages are widespread across northern South America, from the mouth of the Amazon River to the Colombian Andes and from Maracaibo (Venezuela) to Central Brazil. Caribean languages are relatively close to each other; in some cases, it is difficult to decide whether different groups speak different languages or dialects of the same language. Because of this, the exact number of Caribean languages is not known with certainty (current estimates range from 25 to 40, with 20 to 30 still spoken). The Caribean family is well known in the linguistic world due to Hixkaryana, a language with Object-Verb-Subject sentences, previously thought not to exist in human language.

Catalan
Also in the form called Valencian (Valencià IPA: /valensi'a/) is a Romance language, the only official language of Andorra and co-official in the Spanish autonomous communities of Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia. Spain has the majority of active Catalan speakers, and Catalan is the state's second most widely spoken language. It is spoken or understood by as many as 12 million people who live not only in Andorra and Spain, but also in parts of France and Italy.

Cayuga
Is a Northern Iroquoian language of the Iroquois Proper (a.k.a. "Five Nations Iroquois") subfamily, and is spoken in Six Nations, Ontario by around 100 people. There were at one time two distinct dialects of Cayuga. One is still spoken in Ontario, the other, called "Seneca-Cayuga," was spoken in Oklahoma until the 1980s.

Cebuano
Also known as Sugboanon, is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 18,000,000 people and is a subgroup or member of Bisaya, Visayan and Binisayâ. The name came from the Philippine island of Cebu, with the Spanish suffix -ano meaning native, of a place, added at the end. Cebuano is given the ISO 639-2 three letter code ceb, but has no ISO 639-1 two letter code. Cebuano is a member of the Visayan language family.

Chavacano
Chavacano speakers are concentrated mostly in Zamboanga City, in the provinces of Zamboanga, Basilan, Cavite, and in some areas of Davao and Cotabato. According to the 2000 census, there are 607,200 speakers. Speakers are also said to be found in one village in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia. Some people of the Muslim ethnic tribes of Zamboanga such as the Tausugs, the Samals, and of Basilan such as the Yakans also speak the language. In the close provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi areas, there are Muslim speakers of the Chabacano de Zamboanga. The vocabulary is predominantly derived from the Spanish language, while grammar is mostly based on other Philippine languages such as Tagalog and Cebuano. It is used in education, print media, television and radio.

Chagatai
Is an extinct Turkic language which was once widely spoken in Central Asia and most of Khorasan region. The word Chagatai relates to the Chagatai Khanate, the western part of the Mongol empire, which was left to Genghis Khan's second son Chagatai Khan. Many of the Chagatai Turks and Tatars who were the speakers of this language, claim descent from Chagatai Khan.

Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
Is a modern Eastern Aramaic or Syriac language. Called Neo-Aramaic, it is not to be confused with the original Chaldean referring to the Old Aramaic dialect of the Chaldean Dynasty of Babylon. Originally, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic was spoken on the Plain of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is now the language of a worldwide Assyrian diaspora. Most speakers are members of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

Chamorro
Or Chamoru, is the native language of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. Although the English language and Japanese language are commonplace on both Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands, people still use the Chamorro language. Chamorro is also used in mainland United States by immigrants and some of their descendants. The numbers of Chamorro speakers have declined in recent years, and the younger generations are less likely to know the language. The influence of English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Japanese have caused the language to become endangered.

Chaouia
Is the Zenati Berber language of the Chaoui people of eastern Algeria, around Batna and Khenchela. It has over a million speakers. Known alternative spellings are "Shawia", "Shawiya", "Tachawit", "Thachawith", "Tachaouith", and "Th'Chèwith". But in Chaouia language, the T is not prononced, so it's "H'chawit"

Chechen
The Chechen language has about 1,200,000 speakers, most of whom live in Chechnya. is one of the languages of the Caucasus. Linguistically, it is a member of the Nakh family, together with Ingush and Bats; they all belong to the Northeast Caucasian languages with only Ingush and Chechen being mutually intelligible. Languages indigenous to the Caucasus are not members of any language families spoken elsewhere in the world.

Chemakum
(Also written as Chimakum or Chimacum) were a Native American group that once lived on western Washington state's Olympic Peninsula. The Chemakum spoke a language very similar to the Quileute language, which is now effectively a language isolate. This is because the Chemakum were wiped out by Chief Seattle and the Suquamish people in warfare during the 1860s.

Chenchu
Is a South Indian language from Andhra Pradesh which is spoken by about 28,754 (1981 census) persons. It is also called as Chenchucoolam, Chenchwar, Chenswar or Choncharu. It is classifeid as Dravidian, South-Central, Telugu.

Chenoua
Is the Zenati Berber language of Jebel Chenoua in Algeria, just west of Algiers near Tipasa and Cherchell. It is very closely similar to the Berber speech of the Beni Menacer nearby, and the name is thus sometimes extended to refer the Berber speech varieties of that whole area. According to the Ethnologue (2004) (whose figure is taken from the World Christian Database, 2000), it has 4,764 speakers.

Cherokee
Is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee people. It is the only Southern Iroquoian language that remains spoken.

Cheyenne
Is a Native American language spoken in present-day Montana and Oklahoma, USA. It is part of the Algonquian language family. Like all Algonquian languages, it has complex agglutinative morphology. Cheyenne is one of the Algonquian languages, which is a subphylum of the Algic languages. Specifically, it is a Plains Algonquian language. However, Plains Algonquian, which also includes Arapaho and Blackfoot, is an areal rather than genetic subgrouping.

Chinese
Is a language (or language family) that forms part of the Sino-Tibetan family of language. Chinese is the second most commonly spoken language in the world, after English. This is mainly because China is the most populous nation in the world.

Chiricahua
Is a Southern Athabaskan language spoken by the Chiricahua tribe in Oklahoma and New Mexico. It is very closely related to the Mescalero language and more distantly related to Navajo and Western Apache. Chiricahua has been described in great detail by the anthropological linguist Harry Hoijer (1904-1976), especially in Hoijer & Opler (1938) and Hoijer (1946). Hoijer & Opler's Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache Texts (including a grammatical sketch and traditional religious and secular stories) has been converted into an online "book" available from the University of Viriginia.

Chhattisgarhi
Is a language of India. It has approximately 11.5 million speakers, concentrated in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and in adjacent areas of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Bihar. Chhattisgarhi is most closely related to Bagheli and Awadhi (Avadhi), and these languages are classified in the East Central Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages, the Indian branch of the Indo-European language family. Chhattisgarhi, like Sanskrit and Hindi, is written using the Devanagari script. According to the Indian Government, Chhattisgarhi an eastern dialect of Hindi, although it is widely considered by linguists to be distinct enough from Hindi to constitute a separate language. Chhattisgarhi has several identified dialects of its own, in addition to Chhattisgarhi Proper: Baighani, Bhulia, Binjhwari, Kalanga, Kavardi, Khairagarhi, Sadri Korwa, and Surgujia.

Chichewa
Is one of the two official national languages of the Republic of Malawi, the other being English. Chichewa, also known as Chinyanja, is a language of the Bantu language family widely spoken in south-central Africa. It is also spoken in Mozambique, especially in the provinces of Tete and Niassa, in Zambia (especially in the Eastern Province), as well as in Zimbabwe where, according to some estimates, it ranks as the third most widely used local language, after Shona and Ndebele. The countries of Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique constitute the central location of Chichewa. Both the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran have been translated into the Chichewa language.

Chittagonian
Is an Indo-European language spoken by the people of Chittagong in Bangladesh and the much of the southeast of the country. It is closely related to Bangla, but is normally considered by linguists to be a separate language and not a dialect of Bangla, as the two are not inherently mutually intelligible. It is estimated to have 14 million speakers, in Bangladesh as well as by expatriate and second generation Chittagonian Bengalis in the United Kingdom and other countries.

Choctaw
Traditionally spoken by the Native American Choctaw people of the southeastern United States, is a member of the Muskogean family. It is very closely related to Chickasaw and some linguists consider the two dialects of a single language, although recent reports indicate that speakers of Choctaw find Chickasaw to be unintelligible. There are three dialects of Choctaw (Mithun 1999): "Native" Choctaw on the Choctaw Nation in southeastern Oklahoma, Mississippi Choctaw of Oklahoma on Chickasaw Nation of south central Oklahoma (near Durwood) and Choctaw of Mississippi near Philadelphia.
Other speakers live near Tallahassee, Florida and with the Koasati in Louisiana.

Chukchi
Is a Palaeosiberian language spoken by circa 10,400 people (2001) (Chukchi) in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in the region called Chukotka. It is closely related to Koryak, which is spoken by about half that number. The language together with Koryak, Kerek, Alutor and Itelmen forms the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family. The Chukchi and Koryaks form a cultural unit with an economy based on reindeer herding and both have autonomy within the Russian Federation. The Russian word Chukchi is derived from Chukchi word Chauchu, meaning "rich in reindeer".

Chulyum
Also known as Chulim, Chulym-Turkic, Küerik, Chulym Tatar or Melets Tatar (not to be confused with the Tatar language) is the language of the Chulyms. It is also spoken by the Kacik (Kazik, Kuarik). This name originated from a now extinct tribe. The language is closely related to Shor. Sometimes the two are considered as one language. Chulym comprises two dialects: Lower Chulym and Middle Chulym.
The speakers are located in Russia, in central Siberia, north of the Altay Mountains, in the basin of the Chulym River, a tributary of the Ob River. Most speakers are bilingual in Russian. In Soviet times, children were discouraged and/or punished for using the language in schools.

Chuvash
(Also known as Chuwash, Chovash, Chavash or Çuas) is a Turkic language spoken west of the Urals in central Russia. Chuvash is the native language of the Chuvash people and an official language of Chuvashia. It is spoken by about two million people.

Cocoma
(Also spelled Cocama) is a language which is spoken by Indian tribesmen in northeastern lower Ucayali, lower Marañon and Huallaga rivers area, Peru. It is also spoken in Brazil and Colombia. Cocoma is classified in the Tupi group of the Tupi-Guarani language subfamily.
Cocoma has 18,000 speakers in its associated ethnic group in Peru, 200 in Brazil, and less than 100 in Colombia.

Coeur d'Alene
Are a First Nations/Native American people who lived in villages along the Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, Clark Fork and Spokane Rivers; as well as sites on the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene, Lake Pend Oreille and Hayden Lake, in what is now northern Idaho, eastern Washington and western Montana.
In their language, members call themselves, Schitsu'umsh (or Skitswish), meaning The Discovered People or Those Who Are Found Here. Early French fur traders in the late 18th or early 19th century gave them their non-native name. The name, Coeur d'Alene means Heart of an Awl, referring to the perceived shrewdness of the trading skills exhibited by the tribe.

Comorian
Is the most widely used language on the Comoros (independent islands in the Indian Ocean, off Mozambique and Madagascar). It is a close relative of Swahili with a very strong Arabic influence, and is one of the three official languages of the Comoros, next to French and Arabic. Each island has a slightly different dialect; that of Anjouan is called Shindzuani, that of Mohel Shimwali, that of Maore Shimaore, and that of Grand Comoro Shingadzija. No official alphabet existed in 1992, but Arabic and Latin scripts were both used.
It is also the language of Udzima wa ya Masiwa, the national anthem of the "moon islands" ("al-qamar" is Arabic for "moon").

Coptic
Is the most recent phase of ancient Egyptian. It is the direct descendant of the ancient language written in Egyptian hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts. The Coptic alphabet is a slightly modified form of the Greek alphabet, with some letters (which vary from dialect to dialect) deriving from demotic. As a living language of daily conversation, Coptic flourished from ca. 200 to 1100. The last record of its being spoken was during the 17th century. Coptic survives today as the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Egyptian Arabic is the spoken and national language of Egypt today.

Cornish
Is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages (Brythonic also includes Welsh, Breton, the extinct Cumbric and perhaps the hypothetical Ivernic). The Celtic languages of Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Manx are part of the separate Goidelic group. Cornish shares about 80% basic vocabulary with Breton, 75% with Welsh, 35% with Irish, and 35% with Scottish Gaelic. By comparison, Welsh shares about 70% with Breton. Cornish continued to function as a community language until the late 18th century, and was again revived early in the 20th century. As of 2006, it has been estimated that currently around 3,500 speak Cornish to a basic conversational level, and around 500 fluently. Perhaps a score or more children and young adults can be considered native speakers of Revived Cornish.

Corsican
Is a Romance language spoken on the island of Corsica (France), alongside French, which is the official language. A similar dialect to Corsican is also spoken to some extent in the Gallura area of Sardinia (Italy). It has strong similarities to Italian and in particular the Tuscany dialects of Italian. Most linguists consider it as a Tuscany dialect, the closest to modern Italian.
The language has several dialects including Northern Corsican, spoken in the Bastia and Corte area, and Southern Corsican, spoken around Sartene and Porto-Vecchio. The dialect of Ajaccio has been described as in transition. The dialects spoken at Calvi and Bonifacio are closer to Genoa dialect, also known as Ligurian.

Cree
Is the name for a group of closely-related Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 50,000 speakers across Canada, from Alberta to Labrador.
The Cree dialect continuum can be divided by several criteria. Dialects spoken from north-eastern Ontario to Labrador make a distinction between š (sh as in she) and s, while those to the west do not. In several dialects, including northern Plains Cree and Woods Cree, the long vowels ê and î have merged into a single vowel. However, the most transparent phonological variation between different Cree dialects is in the evolution of the proto-Algonquian rhotic *r in the modern dialects.

Crimean Tatar
Also known as Crimean (Qirim tili, Qirimca) and Crimean Turkish (Qirim Türkçesi) is the language of the Crimean Tatars. It is spoken in Crimea, the former Soviet Union, and the Crimean Tatar diasporas in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria.
Today, more than 260,000 Crimean Tatars are living in Crimea, and approximately 150,000 are still in exile in Central Asia (mainly in Uzbekistan). There is an estimated 5 million people of Crimean origin living in Turkey, descendants of those who emigrated in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Smaller Crimean Tatar communities are also found in Romania (24,000), Bulgaria (3,000), Poland, Finland, and the United States.

Croatian
Is a language of the western group of South Slavic languages which is used primarily by the Croats. It is one of the standard versions of the Central-South Slavic diasystem. Croatian is based on the Štokavian dialect (with some influence from Cakavian and Kajkavian) and written with the Croatian alphabet.

Cuman
Was a Turkic language spoken by the Cumans similar to today's Crimean Tatar language. It is documented in several medieval works, including the Codex Cumanicus. The Cumans were a nomad people that lived in the steppes of Eastern Europe, north of Black Sea before the Golden Horde. They have been incorporated into other Turkic peoples: Crimean Tatars, Karachays, Kumyks, etc.

Cumbric
Was the Brythonic Celtic language centred in Cumbria, and spoken from southern Lowland Scotland south as far as Greater Manchester, i.e. the area anciently referred to as Y Gogledd Hen. Cumbric was once referred to as North Welsh and Cornish as South, or West, Welsh.
The biggest problems with modern-day knowledge of the language lies with the fact that Cumbric may have been a dialect of Welsh, and not distinct at all. The old northern British kingdoms of Rheged, Strathclyde, Elmet and Gododdin spoke Old Welsh, but given time, many linguists consider that this tongue was distinguishable from Old Welsh at the time of its demise.

Curonian
Old Curonian: Refers to an extinct language that was spoken by Curonians mainly in Courland peninsula, Western Latvia, and along the nearby Baltic shores. It belonged to the Baltic languages and was closely related to Old Prussian, with some influence from the Livonian language. The language disappeared by the 17th century, leaving substrata in Western dialects of Latvian and Lithuanian languages. No written documents in this language are known, but some ancient Lithuanian texts from Western regions show influence of Curonian.
New Curonian: In the process of various migrations of the 14th-17th centuries, Curonians settled in the Curonian Spit and in East Prussia. Their language was heavily influenced by Lithuanian and German respectively, and by the end of 18th century new Curonian dialects had formed, with the dialect of the Curonian Spit being notably distinct, due to its isolation from the mainland.

Cuyonon
Is a language spoken on the coast of Palawan and the Cuyo Islands in the Philippines.

Czech
Is one of the West Slavic languages, along with Slovak, Polish, Pomeranian (Kashubian), and Lusatian Sorbian. It is spoken by most people in the Czech Republic and by Czechs all over the world (about 12 million native speakers in total). Czech is very close to Slovak and, to a lesser degree, to Polish. Most adult Czechs and Slovaks are able to understand each other without difficulty as they were routinely exposed to both languages on the national TV and radio until the splitting of Czechoslovakia. People born after circa 1985 may have difficulty grasping the few words that differ significantly, or understanding fast spoken language.

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